Weekly Roundup: December 07, 2020
Featuring Viagra Boys, Your Old Droog, Spiritbox, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Spiritbox – “Constance”
When you see words like ‘ethereal’ or ‘majestic’ in a lengthy music promo, it’s usually just a writer throwing in gratuitous superlatives for the sake of an overblown puff piece. So, with that said, please believe me when I say that “Constance” might be the most ethereal and majestic track that Vancouver post-hardcore/metal outfit Spiritbox have ever written. Serving as a touching ode to love and loss in the time of COVID, you can watch the powerful, tearjerker video for the standalone single below:
Wowod – Yarost' I Proshchenie
From the depths of St. Petersburg’s underground, Russian collective Wowod have crafted a fascinating blend of shoegaze, doom, and chaotic post-hardcore on their second full-length album Yarost’ I Proshchenie (out January 2021 through Church Road Records). Stream the monolithic lead single “Proshchenie” here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Benny The Butcher – “Famous”
2020 was the year that label crew Griselda finally broke through the hip-hop ceiling, taking their grimy and nostalgic coke rap from the freezing Buffalo underground to the glitzy, star-studded mainstream. Alongside projects from frequent collaborators and first-cousins Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine, emcee Benny The Butcher dropped his second studio LP, Burden of Proof, and cemented his status as one of hardest foot soldiers in the game. Check out the latest single “Famous” here.
HORSE The Band – Your Fault EP
Nintendo-core overlords HORSE The Band (how good are Myspace throwbacks?) came back from the brink this year with a surprise three-track release titled Your Fault. It’s totally spazzy, strange, and heavy in a convoluted fashion that only this Cali sextet could pull off. Stream the EP here (Spotify/YouTube).
LGND – “Psychedelic Nightmare”
Functionally a creative studio project featuring vocalist Chad Ruhlig (For The Fallen Dreams) and guitarist Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz (ex-The Acacia Strain), LGND appear to be getting profoundly weird on their latest single. “Psychedelic Nightmare” is exactly that—a vivid and terrifying metal experience, one that confidently navigates the zone between the bludgeoning heaviness of Ion Dissonance and A Life Once Lost. With a new EP on the way, check out the track here.
Fire Man – Overcoming the Cycle of Sun Collapse
The solo project of Died guitarist Caio Brentar, Fire Man runs the gamut of fifty years of punk rock ethos. On Brentar’s debut EP, Overcoming the Cycle of Sun Collapse (released on New Year’s Day, 2021), the listener will find traces of the relentless energy of Black Flag, the melodic fuzz of Sonic Youth, the working-class introspection of Minutemen, and the anti-anthem call to arms of Rancid. Check out the lead single “Frantic” here (Bandcamp).
Viagra Boys –“Creatures”
Like weapons-grade smack shot straight into the veins of the kleptocracy, “Creatures” feels like a disinterested Cold Cave covering Murder Ballads-era Nick Cave, with surreal lyrics exploring the mindscape of society’s bottom-feeders through shouted vocals and sly synth rhythms. Watch the newest Viagra Boys video below:
Your Old Droog – Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition
Famed Nas doppelgänger Your Old Droog managed to drop not one, not two, but three excellent studio projects in 2019. Now that’s one hell of an output for any artist, let alone an independent Ukraine-born, Brooklyn-raised rapper. On his latest LP, Droog pays homage to his Eastern European and Central Asian roots, with inventive beats, great features, and plenty of velvety smooth, cigar-flavoured bars. Stream the full album here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
You also can find all these tracks on the TPD December playlist, updated each week.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Hjelvik – Welcome to Hel
Back in 2018, I read that vocalist Erlend Hjelvik had decided to step down from Norwegian metal-punks Kvelertak. I was more than a little bummed. Hjelvik’s manic energy and vocal hysterics were unstoppable on record, and he was a true force to be reckoned with on stage, often shirtless, sweaty, and possessed by dark spirits. While Kvelertak quickly replaced Hjelvik with Ivar Nikolaisen and carried on more or less the same, I wondered what the Stavanger frontman would do with his free time.
The answer, as it turns out, was suitably Scandinavian in approach: start a “blackened Viking heavy metal” solo band. (Look at that promo photo—dude looks like he’s an extra from Vikings.) The best thing about Hjelvik’s debut album, Welcome to Hel (out now through Nuclear Blast Records) is the vividness of his storytelling. On rollicking tracks like “North Tsar” and “Glory of Hel,” shrieked vocals and lively instrumentation cast the listener away to a land of frost-bitten forests, icy fjords, sleek Norse longships, burning pyres, and the pagan battle cries of Valhalla. Tyr!!
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Links to some of my other published work across the Web. Take a look and help a brother out.
Over at Exclaim! magazine, I contributed to their 50 Best Albums of 2020 list by writing up a little blurb for Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist’s collaborative LP, Alfredo (which came in at #15). It’s easily my favourite rap record of the year, and well worth your time. Find a littler taster for the album here.